|
McCain shrugs off Obama attack
20/03/2008 16:26 - (SA)
London - US presidential candidate
John McCain shrugged off criticism from rival Barack Obama over
a gaffe about Iraq, saying on Thursday that all politicians slip
up and it was time to "move on".
McCain, on a tour of Europe and the Middle East, mistakenly
told reporters in Jordan on Tuesday that Iran had backed Sunni
militant group al-Qaeda in Iraq. The United States accuses Iran
of backing Shi'ite militias there, not Sunnis.
Obama, locked in a battle with New York Senator Hillary Clinton
for the Democratic presidential nomination, pounced on the
mistake the following day, suggesting McCain's support for the
Iraq war stemmed from misreading the situation.
"We all misspeak from time to time and I immediately
corrected it. "Just as Senator Obama said he was looking forward to
meeting the president of Canada, we all misspeak from time to
time," McCain told reporters in London.
"So we'll just move on," the presumptive Republican nominee
said after talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at his
Downing St residence.
Obama said last August he would call "the president of
Canada" about a trade deal. Canada has a prime minister, but no
president.
McCain, a 71-year-old Arizona senator, touts his national
security experience as a main reason why he should be elected.
He defended his support both for the 2003 invasion and the
build up - or "surge" - of American troops there to curb violence.
"It's very clear that I have a lot of experience in Iraq,"
said McCain, who has also visited Iraq and Israel this week. "It
is very clear to most objective observers that the surge has
succeeded where others predicted it would fail."
"The situation has improved dramatically over the last year.
The Iraqi people are going about their normal lives. The fact is
al-Qaeda is on the run. We are not defeated," he said.
Obama and Clinton both say that if elected they would
quickly begin withdrawing US troops from Iraq.
McCain said he was "disturbed" by the violence in Tibet and
urged China to respect the rights of demonstrators there. He
backed Brown's decision to meet Tibet's exiled spiritual leader,
the Dalai Lama, when he visits London in May.
|
News
